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Let's be honest: the basic premise of "Hart to Hart" -- a billionaire, his wife, their butler and dog "go and get involved/ 'til the mystery is solved" -- was total pablum. But producer Mart Crowley lent the series a light, knowing touch that helped the ridiculous -- and I do mean ridiculous -- stories go down easier. When he left before the start of the fifth and final season (to work on TV movies), he took that quality with him. Or so I thought. The stories seemed to be trying too hard to be clever; and the romantic interludes between the Harts, which had been the series' calling card, now felt more like afterthoughts. The ones who replaced Crowley, the La Monds, Kasica & Scheff and Roos just didn't understand that we weren't watching the entire time for great mysteries (because, frankly, they never were) but for the unique, throwback chemistry among Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers and Lionel Stander (and, of course, "Freeway").

Which is ANOTHER reason why I love "Murder, She Wrote" as much as I do. Peter S. Fischer quit after the seventh season, but even though the next four seasons (one with David Moessinger as showrunner, the last three with Angela Lansbury herself) presented a less folksy, more modern show, they were smart enough NOT to tamper with what made the show so successful (namely, Jessica Fletcher and her inquisitive but non-judgmental nature) so that those seasons are enjoyable in their own right.

The first one was...okay. It recaptured some, but not all, of the original series' magic. (Honestly, I can't think of a reunion movie that DOES recapture that kind of feeling.) But it was discombobulating for me to see Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers so much older (even if, chemistry-wise, they really hadn't missed a beat) and Lionel Stander so frail. Moreover, without that old house of theirs (which they did away with by way of an explosion, IIRC, since those sets were long gone), it just felt like something was missing.

Years ago, when they switched the reunion movies from NBC to another network, Stefanie Powers remarked that the move was, in fact, a good thing, since NBC kind of forced them into a more specific, murder mystery mode (in order to fit the Friday night sleuthing lineup) which, she said, had never really been their forte. I didn't watch too many after the first movie, but having caught up on Cozi and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, I am inclined to agree with her.

Speaking of, I wonder whatever became of the reboot? Weren't they planning to bring back the series but with the Harts as a same-sex couple?